This is a big birthday week in the cFam, beginning today with FlaMan’s birthday and ending in a week with The Lady of Linden’s, three that I am well aware of in between and a few others that I don’t really keep in my head because they belong to nieces and nephews of various degrees. It’s not that I don’t care and don’t worry, they are well taken care of by their own branches of the sprawling cFam. (Today is also my FinFam grandma Margaret’s birthday.)

The plan was to take FlaMan out to lunch at Johnny’s Pour House in Flushing (of all the things you can name a city). The GG thought FlaMan would bail but I had faith that he would rise to the occasion. He usually does and he seemed cheerful and upbeat about it when we talked to him this morning.

Alas, by the time we got there to pick him up (an hour away), FlaMan had fallen back asleep and the GG could not to save his life get him up, dressed, and out the door.

Instead we executed Plan B, which meant all of the GG’s living siblings (except FlaMan) converged upon the Pour House for lunch. That makes six siblings along with a few of us stray out-laws. All the “cackling hens” ended up at one end of the table and all the boyz at the other. Randomly (I think).

I ended up next to The Beautiful Gay (TBG, blonde woman, bottom right). TBG and I are married to the Twinz of Terror. I can’t even put this into words exactly but at one point our rowdy table was aroar with talk and laughter. I turned to TBG and said something like, “I remember when I was 28 and I married into this huge family and here we are all these years later!” Like how the heck did we get here? Of course I didn’t cry. Our end of the table was cackling and laughing to beat the band at that moment. But I have thought of that moment on and off throughout the day and it does almost bring tears to my eyes. I cannot put into words how much I love the family that welcomed this “outlander” into their fold all those years ago.

We didn’t let FlaMan totally off the hook. After lunch we all bombed his place for a family photo shoot. The GG got him outside and he happily traded his signature Stetson hat for The Lady of Linden’s birthday hat (complete with candles that aren’t easy to see in the crappy pic) for a few moments. King of the Day.

P.S. I am reluctant to post family photos in this space but today I felt compelled to do so. Everyone looks good or isn’t looking at the camera.

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